


a long wait

by Thatbookishgirl



Series: Stars and Stripes [8]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Bucky Barnes & Shuri Friendship, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Frottage, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, One Shot, Requited Love, Steve Rogers Feels, Wakanda (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 04:16:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21155462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatbookishgirl/pseuds/Thatbookishgirl
Summary: Bucky accidentally tells Steve he loves him after having his it for decades. Steve doesn't react to the information the way Bucky fears he will. Also, Shuri is engaged in shenanigans.Summaries. Not my forte.





	a long wait

Bucky had been in Wakanda for awhile. He felt...normal. If normal was even something he could feel now. His mind was his again, but the nightmares were frequent. Shuri was helpful in how she talked him through various ways of managing his nightmares and the waves of anxiety that came before and after. He would meditate, stretch, go for walks, garden, drank tea that tasted like nothing he wanted, and started cooking more. He had made self-care his focus, but things still felt hollow. Steve hadn’t been able to visit, not for lack of trying. Bucky was afraid of them finally seeing each other in person. He didn’t think he could handle the waves of emotion that accompanied thoughts of Steve. 

He had loved Steve since he was 13 and thought he was fucked up for those feelings. Hell, it was illegal when he was younger. Now though, now men who loved other men were celebrated. There were movies, television shows, music, and art - that wasn’t hidden. He had to unravel the shame from everything. Shuri told him shame was a useless emotion here. She assured him Steve would never hate him for these feelings. But he wouldn’t know since he and Steve hadn’t spoken beyond texting these days. Steve was constantly on the move and it was hard to pin down time to really talk. They both had fancy phones and could send each other encrypted messages no one could track, not even Stark. He started every morning with sending texts to Steve. He had taken to finding memes to send Steve in hopes he could make him laugh. When Steve laughed his eyes were so bright and his cheeks get rosy. He was beautiful. 

He was walking through a field and trying to stave off a morning anxiety attack. He’d had another nightmare about killing Steve. They didn’t happen often anymore, but sometimes they would crop up when the nights were colder. He settled on a rock and watched the sun rise over the hills. He took a picture and sent it off to Steve.

** _Bucky_ ** _ : Wish you were here, pal. It’s awfully pretty here. _

Steve’s response was almost instantaneous, apparently he was also awake, wherever he was. 

** _Steve_ ** _ : Your view is much better than mine. _

He sent Bucky a picture of Clint passed out over a pile of pizza boxes in what looked like an airplane hanger. 

** _Bucky_ ** _ : The sheep are better company _

** _Steve_ ** _ : I’ll take your word on it. Why are you up so early? It’s about 5am for you. _

** _Bucky_ ** _ : Couldn’t sleep. You know how it goes. Where are you guys? _

** _Steve_ ** _ : Russia? Mongolia? Not sure. The pilot was not organized. _

** _Bucky_ ** _ : Was the pilot Clint? _

** _Steve_ ** _ : Yes. And he might be bad at it. _

** _Bucky_ ** _ : Wouldn’t know. But I’ll take your word on it. How long will you be stuck in the great north? _

** _Steve_ ** _ : Not too long. We’re on a tight schedule I guess. Natasha is keeping us in the dark so I don’t do something stupid. Or so she says. _

** _Bucky_ ** _ : It’s not like you’ve ever some something half-cocked. _

** _Steve_ ** _ : It’s been awhile. _

** _Bucky_ ** _ : Out here you’d only be able to haphazardly herd sheep. _

** _Steve_ ** _ : Sounds nice though. _

** _Bucky_ ** _ : it has its charms. _

** _Steve_ ** _ : Quiet mornings. _

** _Bucky_ ** _ : Very quiet.  _ (and lonely, which went unsaid)

Steve hadn't replied and Bucky continued to stroll through the fields and let his muscles unfurl. He thought to go see Shuri. She usually lifted his spirits, and she always had something new to show him. He made his way to her lab/living space and was confronted with a large screen that kept showing this short, moving image on a loop. It was of a family waving from a beach somewhere - laughing and blowing kisses. It kept repeating every 30 seconds or so. It was displayed over Shuri’s work space.

“Nice family,” Bucky commented.

“Oh yea,” Shuri smiled, “That’s my friend’s family on vacation. She sent me that quick greeting this morning. I like looking up at like. A living photograph.” 

“It is nice,” he kept staring, “I like regular pictures, but this is nice.”

“Do you want one?” she asked.

“Not sure who I’d want to have a moving picture of in my hut,” he laughed.

“We both know you want a picture of Steve over your bed,” she mumbled. Bucky’s entire face turned red.

“You - we don’t talk about that,” he sighed.

“Fine. Come look at this instead,” she grabbed his arm and tugged him over to her other workbench. She had an array of tools spread out and ended up talking his ear off as she explained each and every one in great detail. She had created some impressive equipment and it was a nice way to spend an afternoon. Eventually she ordered them some food and she had him watch a show called The Good Place that he actually enjoyed. He liked to think he would go to the good place. That way he knew he could still be around Steve. He fell asleep in her deep armchair and she covered him with a blanket.

Three days later Bucky walked into his hut to find a shiny screen with a ribbon on it. There was a note from Shuri attached.

_ Bucky, _

_ This will have plenty of pictures of your most favorite person. You can make video calls from it too. Let me know if you need help figuring it out. _

He looked it over and turned it on. The first thing he sees is a moving image of Steve at some gala a year or so ago. He’s in a nice suit talking with Sam and Natasha. It loops a few times before switching to an image of him out running with Sam. Then it loops again before showing Steve training with Bucky. He stares at it for (an embarrassingly) long time before getting around to his daily tasks. He cleaned. He made a meal. He had started reading a book before he looked over at the screen again. It had changed to an unmoving picture of Steve’s face and made a quick beeping noise. There was a big, green circle floating on the screen and ‘swipe left’ below it. He swiped left on the circle and was greeted with Steve’s face, looking directly at him and smiling. Bucky smiled at it and sighed deeply.

“God, I love you,” he said to himself. Then the moving picture of smiling Steve raised both his eyebrows and changed his expression for a second. He started blushing.

“I love you too, Buck,” the picture replied. Bucky’s eyes widened and he shot up. These pictures don’t talk. 

“What the…” Bucky stared, shocked.

“Can you hear me?” Steve asked, leaning forward in his seat.

“Is this- is this not a moving picture?” Bucky swallowed.

“No. Uh - it’s a video call. Shuri sent me your info and Natasha set it up for me,” Steve explained, his smile still wide and bright.

“Oh,” Bucky breathed out, still a bit panicked. They were both quiet for a minute, staring at each other. Steve looked good, his beard full and hair longer. He even had some color on his skin, more golden than pale. Bucky had his hair pulled back in a messy bun and was wearing an old tank top. 

“Did you mean it?” Steve finally asked.

“Yea. Didn’t think you could hear me though,” he expressed.

“Well, I did. And I meant what I said back. But I’ve always loved you. You gotta know that. Ever since we were kids,” the blonde gave him a soft smile. Bucky could easily repeat the same back. He could rest with that. But he could also use this as an opportunity to tell Steve his truth. He never backed down from anything before - he tackled HYDRA, he fought Nazis, he fought countless, faceless dozens. He should be able to tell Steve how he really felt.

“Yea. Yes. I do. But...in a different way. I’m just...so in love with you Steve. Since we were kids even. Every time I took a dame out to dance I wanted it to be you. When I shipped out it was you I wanted to hug and kiss on the train platform. When you rescued me from HYDRA I just wished I could kiss ya until I couldn’t breathe. When you kissed Sharon I wanted to tear my hair out. I love you in a way I know you could never love me. But I just had to finally tell you,” he stammered. It was hard to say, every word heavy in his mouth. 

When he looked up at Steve he saw bright, wet eyes. Steve was smiling in a way he hadn’t ever seen. A single tear fell from one of his eyes and Steve let out a sputtering breath like he had been holding it the entire time. “Buck, I’m in love with you too.”

“Really?” Bucky choked.

“God, yes. For as long as I can remember,” Steve sniffed. Bucky felt himself tear up as well.

“I didn’t think I’d ever hear those words from you. I was willing to wait forever,” Steve revealed.

“I almost didn’t. It would have been a long wait,” Bucky smirked.

“You’re worth the wait,” Steve said bashfully. They kept staring at each other and smiling lovingly.

“So, what now?” Bucky shrugged a little, wishing he could reach out and touch him.

“I could ask you to be my best guy,” Steve turned bright pink.

“Yea?” Bucky looked at him bashfully. 

“Yea,” Steve gave.

“I’d like that,” Bucky glanced at his through his eye lashes. 

They didn’t talk about much else after that. They just stared dreamily at each other and Bucky kept tracing the screen over Steve’s face. They talked about all the times they almost kissed each other. Bucky told him he would’ve kissed him when they were 13 if he wasn’t so scared. Steve said he would’ve kissed him right back. Steve told Bucky how he hated every girl Bucky took out dancing. Bucky told Steve how he almost hated Peggy, did hate Sharon. Then he heard Natasha laugh in the background and she seemed to agree. Then they got interrupted as Clint was going to be landing them soon. 

“Call me later?” Bucky asked.

“Always,” Steve beamed and ended the call.

Bucky felt light. He felt strong. He felt like he could rest. 

The next morning he woke up to a goat tugging on his blanket. He blinked his eyes open to see one of the younger goats trying to steal the thin blanket he had wrapped around his legs. This was a pretty regular occurrence as his door wasn’t much of a door. He had another place to stay, especially when it was rainy season. It was set up very similar to Shuri’s place - modern and sleek, but he liked his hut. It was quiet and away from everyone. He shooed the goat away and got up to brush his teeth and hair. He shrugged on a loose top and slacks before wandering out into his garden. The sun was up and everything had a pink glow. As he stepped closer to his gate he saw a figure walking towards his property. He watched them approach and suddenly realized he knew that strut. It was Steve.

Bucky took off in a sprint towards him. Steve picked up his pace to meet Bucky quicker. Once they were within a few feet of each other Bucky just flung himself into Steve’s arms. They hugged so tightly, Bucky’s face pressed into Steve’s neck. There was a huge relief washing over all of them. When they pulled back from one another Steve gently cupped Bucky’s face.

“Can I - “ Bucky cut off what he knew Steve was going to ask by kissing him firmly on the lips. Steve’s arms fell to Bucky’s waist and pulled him closer as their kiss continued. Steve’s lips were softer than Bucky expected, the contrasting coarseness of the bears was tantalizing. When they eventually broke the kiss they pressed their foreheads together.

“Been waitin’ about 70 years for that, punk,” Bucky grinned.

“I think you mean 80,” Steve chuckled. 

“Whatever,” Bucky kissed him again and Steve was weak to anything else. Bucky’s arms snaked around Steve’s neck and they kissed until they were breathless. 

“I’m gonna walk you back to your hut now. And I’m going to keep kissing you. PRobably do some other stuff if you’re up for it,” Steve blushed.

“Definitely up for it, Stevie,” he replied and kissed him again. He then lifted Bucky, whose legs immediately wrapped themselves around Steve’s waist, and he was carried back to his home. 

“Should probably let you know,” Steve said between kisses, “I haven’t had time to get much experience. I’ve kissed all of 4 people. And that’s it.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Bucky smiled, “We can figure it out.”

They got to his gate and made their way into the hut. Steve all but tossed Bucky onto the large bed and crawled up the kneel over him. He looked at Bucky’s blown out eyes, heavy chest, and pink chin from Steve’s beard. 

“God, I’ve thought about this a hundred times,” Steve marveled.

“I think I’m up to 5000, myself,” Bucky smirked.

“Well, let’s make it real, yea? I just want to touch every inch of you. I want to hear every sound you make. I want to make you feel so good,” Steve tugged at Bucky’s shirt and Bucky easily let him slide it off. Steve removed his right after. Steve traced over the skin where it met Bucky’s new arm. They had cleaned up a lot of the scar tissue and everything fused cleanly. Bucky shivered at the touch and gasped when Steve leaned down to kiss it. His lips moved from shoulder to neck and gave tiny nips up towards Bucky’s chin. Steve gave him another delicate kiss on the lips and pressed Bucky entirely to the bed, chest to chest.

“Ya know,” Bucky blushed, “When we were younger, back in the old place, I used to think about climbing into your bed and holding you there. Kissing you until you had an asthma attack.”

“Sorry to kill the fantasky but they wiped out the asthma,” Steve snickered.

“I think I’ll survive,” the brunette grinned and pulled Steve’s hips flushed with his own. He ground up against the hardness he could feel in Steve’s pants. He desperately wanted to see more of that. “Pants off, Stevie.”

“Ok,” Steve smiled before stepping back and stripping off the rest of his clothes. Bucky gave him a thorough once over before shucking off his own pants and lounging back, spreading his legs to beckon Steve back between them. The blonde has no hesitation before putting himself back above Bucky. As soon as he settled, hard cocks brushed against each other. Both men groaned in unison.

“How do you wanna do this?” Steve asked, his hand hovering over the both of them. 

“I - I can’t say that I have supplies around. No slick. No rubbers,” Bucky greatly regretted not giving into fantasies and purchasing things he might never use.

“We can make do,” Steve grinned. He then licked up his palm before grasping them both in one hand. He slowly stroked them both with an easy glide.

“Holy shit,” Bucky bit as he threw his head back on his pillow. Steve’s hands were larger than his own with rougher palms. Steve looked blissed out as he jerked them both off, biting his lip so hard he was sure it would break skin. He twisted his hand and gave Bucky more pressure. He wanted to bend down and take Bucky in his mouth, but he assumed he had time for that later. Right now he just wanted to take Bucky apart. 

“Steeeeeve,” Bucky whined, hands fisting in the sheets. 

“Come on, sweet heart,” Steve whispered, “I know you can come for me.”

“Oh god,” Bucky gasped, like air was punched out of him. He sat forward, causing Steve to lose balance. He straddled Steve’s thighs and took Steve’s cock in his hand while riding against Steve’s hip. He was so close to coming he could hardly stand it. 

“Buck,” Steve managed before really losing it. He felt heat coil in his stomach and couldn;t help but stare into the flushed face of his oldest friend and lover. He had dreamt of Bucky’s face like this.

“Shit,” Bucky hissed before coming all over both of them. Steve wrapped his hand around Bucky’s and sped up the stroking before spilling in kind, a pool of cum in both their laps. They kissed with fervor and didn’t care for the mess between them. They continued like this until they were breathless.

“In case this was still unclear; I love you. You’re my best guy. You’re the only one for me,” Steve said between kisses.

“Good. Because I’m not letting you go anywhere ever again,” Bucky smiled like the sun. 


End file.
